As I was reading through SHRM’s recent survey on Job Satisfaction (subscription required), a couple of stats really jumped out at me that further indicate the gap in what satisfies and motivates the different generations of workers.
Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction on 21 different aspects of their work environment. They used a standard 1 to 5 scale (1=very unimportant up to 5=very important). Here are some of the topical results broken out by employee age followed by avg. score:
Career advancement: under 35 – 4.41 36 to 55-3.85 over 56-3.53
Career development opportunities: under 35 – 4.49 36 to 55 – 4.09 over 56 – 3.85
Job-specific training: under 35 – 4.34 36 to 55 – 4.04 over 56-3.62
Employer commitment to professional development: under 35 – 4.34 36 to 55 – 4.01 over 56 – 3.77
Flexibility to balance life/work issues: under 35 – 4.57 36 to 55 – 4.44 over 56 – 4.36
As you can see, younger generation expects a company to be committed to providing opportunities for professional development along with a distinct desire to balance personal and work life.